Colour – Sydney Street art vs Valla Eos

To the burnt wood, bones and earth of cave art, the Egyptians added ground cinnabar, realgar, azurite, orpiment and malachite for their rainbows and manufactured white lead and blue frit. The Romans developed Tyrian purple from whelks, indigo from dyes and verdigris from corroding copper. Arab alchemists added sublime vermilion using sulphur and mercury and pure ultramarine processed from minerals transported from mines in Afghanistan and worth its weight in gold leaf. The industrial revolution added chromes, cadmiums, cobalt, viridian and zinc white. See Colin Hayes,  ‘The Complete Guide to Painting and Drawing Techniques and Materials’, Chapter 2, 1979, Guild Publishing.